International property fair MIPIM concluded on Friday, leaving attendees unsure whether to celebrate the post-pandemic recovery of key segments of the market or brace for bumpy times ahead in the global financial system.

MIPIM 2023, which took place March 14-17 in Cannes' Palais des festivals under the theme "Better Places, Greater Impact, Stronger Business", continued the event's return to full form after the disruptions of Covid-19. More than 23,000 attendees consisting of developers, financiers, investors and occupiers as well as government authorities arrived in the French Riviera from some 90 countries.

The first and potentially most important read on investor sentiment at MIPIM is the RE-Invest Summit, a closed-door gathering which brings together around 100 of the world's biggest real estate capital owners including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and family offices to kick off the event. On day one they discussed as a group the question "What keeps you up at night?" The insomnia-inducing list was lengthy: inflation, interest-rate rises, economic uncertainty and unclear valuations were among the top concerns cited.